


Wondering

by LadyKes



Series: POV [12]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Triwizard Tournament
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:20:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22977550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyKes/pseuds/LadyKes
Summary: Hermione's perspective of the Second Task.  Part of the POV series
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Viktor Krum
Series: POV [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/144681
Comments: 2
Kudos: 42





	Wondering

This was quite possibly the oddest procession Hermione had ever been a part of. Professor McGonagall led, followed by Cho, Ron, and herself. Ending the line was Professor Flitwick, who was practically trotting to stay within shouting distance of the others. They were all headed towards Professor Dumbledore’s office, for reasons that Professor McGonagall refused to disclose, only tightening her lips further each time someone asked. Ron had asked enough times that Hermione thought he was in danger of being Silencio’ed, actually. 

She wasn’t altogether happy about being in this procession herself, mainly because the Second Task was tomorrow and she really wanted to make sure that both Harry and Viktor were as prepared as possible. 

Viktor. Now there was an interesting subject. They’d been involved since the Yule Ball, and she’d once jokingly said to him that they were “steady,” though she hadn’t given a very good explanation as to the colloquial meaning of the word. She enjoyed their relationship because they could spend time discussing intellectual pursuits and then transition seamlessly into kissing. He was certainly good at kissing, although her experience was somewhat limited in that arena so she wasn’t really able to judge empirically. Actually, she should probably consider Viktor to be her first kiss, given that the only other kiss she’d gotten had been from Peter Quinn in grade one, and that probably didn’t count since it had been a dare. 

Her lips curved gently upwards before she could stop them as she thought about the contrast between that first encounter with Peter and the first time she’d kissed Viktor after the Yule Ball. Sometimes it still surprised her that she’d been the one to kiss him, but as her mother always said, “the man needn’t always make the first move, dear. In fact, it’s quite interesting sometimes if they don’t.” Dr. Granger was definitely correct on this account, and Hermione’s further explorations of making the first move had continued since Viktor was very hesitant of “taking liberties”. She understood his fears and even agreed with them to some extent. She was, after all, three years younger than him and she’d discovered that it was quite difficult to stop kissing one’s boyfriend once one had started. 

Her musings on the nature of intimacy and the pitfalls therein were interrupted by their arrival at the stone gargoyle and Professor McGonagall’s slightly acid tones saying the password (in this case, it was “Milk Tray”) before they all went up the stairs into Dumbledore’s office.

The man in question was sitting behind his desk looking much more twinkly than he had been in recent weeks, which made Hermione slightly nervous. She respected Dumbledore, of course, but she’d noticed that his deviousness corresponded directly to his twinkliness. Given the timing of their visit, she suspected his deviousness corresponded to the Second Task in some way, which meant her nervousness was fully justifiable. 

“Ah, Minerva and Filius, thank you so much for escorting the students. Please stay for a moment,” their overly twinkly headmaster said before turning his attention to said students, “Misses Granger and Chang and Mr. Weasley, I’m sure you’re wondering why you’re here.”

Hermione’s mental response was a snort, but her physical response was a murmured, “Yes, Professor,” in chorus with the other two students.

“Well, you see, you three are very important to our champions,” he began, and he was definitely getting more twinkly, “and therefore, you are part of the second task, which means I must, shall we say, borrow you temporarily. I assure you, you will come to no harm at any point,” he finished, and Hermione snorted mentally once more. If she remembered the lyrics to the song, it sounded like they were all going to be visiting the merpeople, which could be very harmful indeed, especially given the fact that none of them were gifted with the ability to breathe underwater. 

“Professor Flitwick will place you in a form of magical stasis and you will, essentially, sleep until your champion successfully rescues you. It will be as painless as having tea and crumpets,” Dumbledore continued, motioning to Flitwick, who moved forward, wand out. Hermione had been about to ask another question about who she was the chosen person for (since as far as she could tell, there was one person for Diggory, two for Harry, and none for either Viktor or Delacour), but she was forestalled by Flitwick’s squeaky voice saying, “ _Stitium_!” and after that there wasn’t really anything at all.

Her awareness came back in waves. First she was aware that she was under water and moving quickly, then that she was unable to move or open her eyes. She seemed to be bound, though that sensation disappeared after a deep, familiar voice murmured something. Finally her head breached the water and she sputtered, fighting instinctive fear and trying to think enough to determine what was going on. She opened her eyes and looked into the rather wet, extremely concerned face of Viktor, who had his hands on her upper arms. “Viktor? What—what happened? I’m…all wet,” she said confusedly before some facts reasserted themselves in her brain. One, she was in the middle of the Great Lake and two, she was apparently in the company of Viktor. That would mean -- “I was your most prized item, wasn’t I?” she said, blushing at the idea that out of all the people at Hogwarts, he’d chosen her as his precious item. 

Viktor appeared to be similarly aware of the implications of this statement, because he merely said, “Yes,” before guiding them both to the shore and helping her out of the water. Hermione noticed the fan club fading away, and mentally thumbed her nose at them and their delusions. Professor Karkaroff was hovering and clearly not happy with who Viktor had pulled out of the lake, but Viktor grabbed a towel from a classmate and then guided them both to a bit of sand slightly removed from the hustle and bustle. He gently placed the towel around her. As he did, his hands brushed her shoulders and made her shiver from something entirely unrelated to the water temperature. 

He seemed to notice the shiver, because he said anxiously, “You are alright? Not hurt?”

“I’m fine. I’m a bit startled that the last thing I remember is going to Dumbledore’s office and talking about crumpets, though,” she said, summoning a smile to reassure him. 

He smiled back in relief, then reached up to remove something from her hair, and held it as if he was cataloguing what it was. She looked at the bug and it looked very familiar. Of course, it was quite likely that she had seen the bug. There was rarely just one bug around, after all. 

Speaking of bugs, Professor Karkaroff had approached and said firmly, “Viktor, I vould like to talk to you about task. Ve must find out your score, make sure it is fair,” but Viktor ignored him, instead looking at Hermione steadily, almost as he had done before he asked her to the Yule Ball. 

“Hermione. I vas vondering. Vould you come visit me in Bulgaria this summer? I vould like to show you my country and my people,” he said, in a rush as if to get it said before he could think better of saying it. 

To say that she was startled by his question would be an understatement. This was entirely new territory, and, oh, goodness, what would her mother say? Making the first move was one thing, but visiting a boy in a completely different country was something entirely different, and perhaps not on the list of “approved activities.” She realized Viktor was still waiting for an answer, so she said, stumbling a bit as she tried to think about how to express the situation best, “Viktor, I don’t know. I mean, I have to think about it. And I need to ask my parents; I’m not old enough to decide things like that myself.” 

She realized she hadn’t said it quite tactfully enough when his face fell and he looked at his feet before saying, very formally, “Yes, of course. I should not haff asked you. I apologize.”

She hastened to reassure him, almost babbling as she said, “It’s not that. I just, I need to think about it. It would be fun, I’m sure it would!” and looked at him, hoping he would see the sincerity in her eyes and take her words for cautiousness rather than outright rejection.

He seemed reassured by her words and took both her hands before he said, “Hermione” and stopped, seemingly gathering his courage before finishing the thought with, “I haff not felt this vay about a girl. I do not invite girls to see my country. I vant you to know that,” looking at her steadily, so she saw the truth in his eyes.

That was bordering on a declaration of love right there, which both thrilled and confused Hermione. Viktor felt that way about her? She knew he liked her and was attracted to her, but to say that he hadn’t felt like this about any other girl? That was quite a statement. She gently removed a hand from his and placed it on his cheek.

“I know that, Viktor. And I’m not turning you down. I’m just saying I need to think about it.” Think about the trip and the feelings and the implications and the various revelations that today had afforded. 

They’d descended into an almost awkward silence when Hermione saw Harry’s head appear above the water, followed by the red hair of what had to be Ron and a girl with very light blonde hair. She jumped up and ran over to the shore, waiting with others to assist Harry in hauling his burdens out of the water. She was caught up in the commotion of Harry’s return when she turned a bit and saw Viktor sitting alone, looking rather forlorn. She realized she’d run away from him the moment Harry had appeared and that she’d been a bit insensitive, especially considering the conversation they’d just had. 

She remembered a charm she’d seen in that French transfiguration book and said, “ _Sapphirus creatium cor_ ,” subtly pointing her wand at the sand in front of Viktor. A small blue heart appeared in front of him and he stared at it in disbelief before almost grinning (for Viktor, anyway) and getting up, putting the heart in his pocket and heading towards the others from Durmstrang. Hopefully that little charm had indicated to him that although she was currently talking with Harry, she hadn’t forgotten about Viktor, his question, or his almost-declaration. In fact, as she watched his retreating back, she wondered if this was what falling in love felt like.

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously I made the charms up, but I based them on actual Latin, so we'll go with it.


End file.
